Lee Yi-kyung "The day will come when director Park Seong-gwang will establish himself"

“Although the situation is stagnant, I hope that Korean movies will again take first place at the box office. I hope that movie will be ‘Woongnam’.”

Comedian Park Seong-gwang made his first appearance as a commercial film director with the movie ‘Woongnam’. Lee Yi-kyung predicted that the name of director Park Seong-gwang, who defeated comedian Park Seong-gwang, would become established. Attention is being paid to whether the prophecy will come true and whether it will become the No. 1 box office film that Park Sung-woong hopes for.

On the afternoon of the 14th, a press screening for the movie 'Woongnam' (directed by Park Seong-gwang) was held at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Director Park Seong-kwang, actors Park Seong-woong, Lee Yi-kyung, and Choi Min-soo attended the press conference held after the preview.

'Woongnam' is a comical action film in which a man with a special secret called Asiatic Black Bear uses his unique beast-like abilities to cooperate in an investigation against an international criminal organization.

Director Park Seong-gwang, who is about to release on this day, confessed, "The release is approaching, and I am both excited and nervous. I have many mixed emotions. I wonder what will happen in a week, and I hope it will be filled with only good things."

Director Park Seong-gwang said, "I'm a comedian, so I think people will watch it with high expectations, thinking, 'It's going to be really fun.' I tried to focus on the drama and content rather than focusing on the comedy. I differentiated the comedy I did in plays from the comedy I saw in movies. I only focused on making people laugh. “I paid a lot of attention to distribute it well without putting too much effort into it, so as not to harm the flow of the play,” he said.

Also, "The title is 'Ungnam', but I thought the main character was Eung-buk. I had a lot of trouble deciding whether to focus on noir or comedy. In some ways, Eung-buk's screen size was reduced, which is very unfortunate from the director's point of view. But now is the best time. “I think the distribution was done correctly,” he said.

The film stars Park Sung-woong, Lee Yi-kyung, and Choi Min-soo. Regarding the secret to casting, director Park Seong-gwang said, "There are people I cast because of close friends. I gave them the script and gave it to them officially before giving permission, and there was also someone from the production company who helped me. It was my first time (directing), and the actors were unfamiliar, so I thought, 'Let's give it a try.' ?’, ‘What would it be like if a comedian directed as a director?’ I think the secret is the curiosity.”

Park Seong-woong said, "I think I was the first to receive the script. I have known director Park Seong-gwang for 14 years, and we are like brother and sister. 14 years ago, while drinking, he happened to say, 'I will become the director and give you the script.' After 12 years, the script was released. He came. I couldn't get rid of him anyway. He wrote me outright. I couldn't run away. I think we discussed and discussed together in a good direction. He said he would do it as soon as he received it."

Park Seong-woong, who played two roles, said, "There was nothing difficult about acting because the character originally had a big gap. When I was acting as Woong-nam, it came out naturally because I was with Lee Yi-kyung. When I was with Min-su, I was bored. It was just Lee Jeong-hak. “It came out as is,” he said.

In addition, Park Seong-woong said, "What was really difficult was the underwater scene. I had to act in one suit, then change again and go in. I put on a suit, carried a case, put on shoes and went in, and even if I struggled, my arm wouldn't come up. I put 4kg of lead inside it. “I did. But I couldn’t come up. It was physically quite difficult,” he confessed.

Lee Yi-kyung said, "We are seniors and juniors who met on a variety show, but we were older and younger. While filming another movie in Busan, I received the script through a messenger and read it. It was just on the list. I thought that was an OK sign, so I had fun filming it."

Lee Yi-kyung said, "When I couldn't do everything due to the time on set, there were times when a scene came out with an actor's idea. I made that decision quickly and accurately. Senior Park Seong-gwang made the whole atmosphere better. After watching the movie, I felt like he was a friend. All of this was thanks to the director. “Because I watched it on this monitor, I am labeled as a comedian, but the day will definitely come when director Park Seong-gwang wins and establishes himself,” he expressed his affection.

Choi Min-soo said, "(Director Park Seong-gwang) was the shortest on set. I can tell you this, as a director who is directing his first work on set, there may actually be moments when you feel stumped. I don't know how you feel," he said. "There was no hesitation or hesitation in expressing the direction of all productions or the director's style. We thought we would not be able to see it because it was small, but it was clearly visible as we worked so well that we could be satisfied with the time," he said. added.

Meanwhile, 'Woongnam' will be released on the 22nd.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr